random thoughts, some nuts and bolts
Archive for April, 2006
on Wild Arms 4 and Kingdom Hearts II
Apr 5th
Finished Wild Arms 4 the other night just in time for Kingdom Hearts II. Yeah, some of you might have already finished KHII but I wasn’t able to get my own copy until yesterday.
Anyway, back to Wild Arms, it started out good. But then why did it just sucked in the end. Storywise it just isn’t in par with WA1 and WA2. Haven’t played WA3, so I can’t compare this with that. Or maybe I’m just not a fan of the characters. Jude started out okay but I love Arnaud the most, not counting Kresnik and Gawn. Or maybe those too “goody goody with no internal struggle characters” aren’t just my type. Yeah, maybe that’s it. The characters just didn’t do it for me. And as far as my gaming experience counts, it’s only here that I encountered a villian that bawls like a kid. Wait. Now that I think about it, maybe that’s the developer’s purpose for the game. To make the main character act like a boring too-good-adult while making the adult villians act childish. The plot’s about the children being the future of the world anyway. I wonder if they made the game longer would it be better? I mean, if I didn’t go around and level up my characters, which really isn’t needed, I could have finished the game under 30 hours. And with longer time, then they could have focused on some of the subplots too. Like Jude’s father being a war hero criminal and also of Racquel’s illness. Those looked more interesting than the main plot.
After finishing the game, those are my major complaints about it. But other than those, it’s a pretty okay since I like the battle system. The usage of HEXes makes the game relatively easy. You can heal and damage many at a time instead of one character/enemy per turn. I also like that mini-game platformer. I think that it’s called External ROMs or something. Old school Mario type! And since platformers rule, I love it! And don’t forget the puzzles all across the dungeons, which is really a WA trademark. Love those too. Oh and aside from those did I mention I love Kresnik and Gawn?! ^_~
And now since I’ve finished that, have to move on to my next game. Initially, I was supposed to play Shadow Hearts: Covenant since I heard a lot of good stuff about this and was just able to get my hands on it over the weekend. But yeah, I’m putting that down for later since I was able to get my hands on Kingdom Hearts II. Woot! Just bought it last night! So I popped it in and played till 2 in the morning. Have to stop though because I really have to sleep for work.
Anyway, all this time, I thought that Roxas name is pronounced Ro-has and not Rok-sas. Is it only us Filipinos that pronounce it that way? X said as H? Because I really find it weird hearing Roxas’ name pronounced with the k and the s. I stayed away as much from trailers and all those stuff until now so as not to spoil it and so now, this is new to me. Well, we have the Philippine president named Manuel Roxas. And that major road named after him called Roxas Boulevard. All of them pronounced with an H. Gyah! I guess, I really just have to get used to it. =_= Oh, and another thing… Who the heck voiced Seifer? That wasn’t how I imagined him to sound like. Okay, it’s a kid Seifer but still. TT___TT Seifeerrr!
… And after a couple of Google links and clicks, I now know that WIl Friedle voiced Seifer. O___O Will Friedle?! I liked him in his teeny days and during Boy Meets World time and I also like him as Terry in Batman Beyond. But, but… Ugh. (~_~) And the Japanese gets Koyasu Takehito! Why can’t these Japanese seiyuu be more proficient in English so they can do the voices of their counterparts in the English game as well. They really should learn to speak English. All of them. Not only will their fans love it, but they’ll earn more money too, right?!
And so now, I’m counting the minutes till I get home. Because, damn I want to play the game more. Maybe I should skip work tomorrow?! XD
on Ice Age: Meltdown
Apr 3rd
Went to watch Ice Age: Meltdown last Wednesday. Totally loved it! It was sooooo hilarious. Of course I still love the first one overall since this one sorta lacked that heart-tugging moments that were present in the first movie due to Pinky and his interactions with Manny, Diego and Sid.
I initially thought that it would be a cheesy sequel since there’s an introduction of a female mammoth that is Ellie. But I’m glad that I was proven wrong. XD You shouldn’t forget though that this is a kiddie movie. So don’t expect some highfaluting plot that will make you think. It’s a kiddie movie that aims to bring out some laughs. And that’s what it did for me.
Anyway, though Scrat steals the show most of the time, I actually grew tired of a couple of Scrat scenes especially the ones that were used in the teasers and trailers. But I totally love the last Scrat scene though. Ooohhh! Heaven! XD Oh and I’m soooo glad to see Diego again. Though this time he wasn’t as much in the spotlight as in the first movie. It was almost all Manny, Manny, Manny… Not that I’m complaining though, but of the three main characters in the movie, it’s Manny who I find the most boring. I don’t know, maybe it’s only me. *shrugs* But yeah, Diego love! Oh and can I say, Diego x Sid is my Ice Age OTP! XDDD More Diego x Sid if ever there’s gonna be Ice Age 3.
